Some days in the kitchen were longer than others, generally a consequence of how much work there was to be done. More work typically meant a shorter day but, as Allison’s eyes drifted back to the clock on the far wall, it didn’t seem to be making a difference one way or the other. The influx of summer tourists had most certainly begun, the incoming tickets from the front easily double the volume of only several weeks earlier. It was normally a sign of good things to come. With the café’s having an established reputation in such a small town, any increase in business was a reflection of Allison’s individual efforts. Every review, every new customer and every returning regular breathed life into her. She lived for every new affirmation, each a confirmation of her right to exist.
In that moment, however, she could feel nothing for any of it, her efforts to focus on the new orders and new faces coming to nothing. It was common for Lily to take time away from taking and delivering orders to give personal tours of the café, especially to the tourists who would be most likely to share their tales of the wonderful little restaurant and the personal touch involved in its excellent service. Pride was also a factor; she loved the adoration that came with showcasing her success and, given that the tours always included a brief view into the kitchen, Allison suspected that Lily knew that the same was true for her. No matter how many came to visit to marvel at the gleaming stainless steel surfaces and shower her with praise that day, however, Allison couldn’t draw sustenance from any of it as she so often did. She smiled, waved and gave brief answers to questions as politely as she could manage, but a lifetime of practice in keeping up appearances was guiding her forward instead of active attention or interest. It was all background noise, at best a momentary distraction from the worries at the edges of her thoughts.
“Biscotti’s about to burn.”
Again staring blankly at the clock with an unfocused gaze, Allison slowly turned toward Mari. “Sorry, wha—?”
Given her dedication to it, seeing Mari’s typically bored and slightly irritated expression shifted into anything different was noteworthy on its own. That it was replaced with concern was cause for alarm. Allison knew that any emotion that Mari showed was safe to consider to be magnified tenfold. Her slightly raised eyebrow caused Allison to immediately look in the same direction and, her eyes falling an oven, Mari’s words finally had her full attention. With a gasp, she grabbed a towel and darted to the oven, pulling its door open and freeing a sheet pan from it. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that there was no apparent harm done, but that moment absent of dread freed her attention just in time to hear a faint chuckle coming from behind her. An entirely new fear began to take shape as she turned to face the inevitable.
This can’t be good. “What’s so funny?”
As per usual, Mari didn’t look at her when speaking, instead turning her attention to the prep table. “Nothing.”
Allison groaned, already exasperated with the exchange. “People don’t laugh for no reason, especially not in situations like this and especially not you.”
There was a pause that would soon prove to be all too brief. “Rising star of the culinary world, executive chef at 23, shaking up the industry with people fawning over her at every turn…and too lovesick to remember to set a timer. I just think it’s funny.”
Allison was taken aback. Mari was never what anyone could misconstrue as friendly; she was nothing if not blunt and impatient and, on her best days, she said nothing at all. Still, to go as far as to take delight in someone’s misfortune wasn’t just unsociable. It was malicious. Already on edge for hours since returning from the grocery store, the words cut deep.
“Where is this coming from? If you have some kind of a problem with me, why am I just hearing about it now? You’ve never been the type to hold your tongue…not that I blame you. Without a mesh glove handy, I wouldn’t, either.”
Allison didn’t get long to bask in the glory of her retort. She didn’t realize that she’d misinterpreted Mari’s shocked silence until her laughter came in earnest, a sound so cheerful that it ran counter to everything that Allison had come to know about her.
“I guess Lily’s new kitten finally noticed she has claws.” Seeing Allison already beginning to recover and gather herself for another round, Mari chuckled and raised her hands. “Calm down…calm down. I meant exactly what I said—it’s funny. I don’t get to see people lovestruck often, and it’s just kind of amusing what it can do to people. It’s cute.”
Again, Allison was at a loss. Mari never seemed to run out of ways to cause her a new headache. “Has anyone ever told you that you should try to work on your conversational skills? You’ve got a bad habit of giving people the wrong idea.”
Mari huffed, suddenly looking annoyed as she began slicing strawberries. “You’re right. Next time you ask me what I’m thinking, I’ll just say ‘nothing.’”
As infuriating as Mari could be and as much as she was still in a mood to argue, Allison couldn’t deny that she had a point. “Listen, I—”
“Skip it.” Mari continued slicing, going back to her habit of speaking to someone while looking anywhere else. “I did something you didn’t like, and you shouldn’t be apologizing for saying so. You took it the wrong way, and I could’ve found a better way to put it. It was just a miscommunication. We’re just different.”
It wasn’t unusual for Allison to not know what to say to Mari. Much of what made dealing with her confusing was that the reason for it kept changing. She never considered people to be difficult to understand in the past; each person was a different combination of thoughts, feelings and motivations, but the list of factors to be combined was only so long. As long as she was familiar enough with that list, understanding a person was nothing more than a matter of predicting outcomes. It was a pattern that had carried on through her entire life until the moment she met Remy. It was one of the things that made it hard for Allison to stop thinking about her, always trying to make sense of something endlessly fascinating but entirely unfamiliar. It wasn’t until she met Mari and again found herself at a loss that Allison began to wonder if the world was simply a bit bigger than she’d realized.
Her brow furrowed, Allison turned to look at Mari, still thinking about the connection just made between her and, of all people, Remy. Nothing in her life’s experiences suggested that this was an appropriate time to ask for a favor but, as Allison thought about it, she admitted that it didn’t make any less sense to her than anything else that passed between them. If nothing else, she was certainly desperate enough to try.
“So…I was wondering—”
“Deep thinker or angry bitch?”
Allison could only stand there, blinking in silence. Given everything that had ever passed between them, she wondered why she expected her first attempt to have a conversation with Mari to be anything other than surprising. “I’m sorry, what?”
Again, Mari proved to be a source of initial confusion when she turned to glance at Allison out of the corner of her eye and laughed softly.
“Nobody willingly talks to me unless they want something, and it’s typically the opinion of one or the other. Which one are you looking for?”
Allison sighed, grateful that she’d already resigned herself to simply going with it rather than trying to force things to make sense. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to—”
“Skip it.” She repeated her earlier dismissal, but there was no trace of the impatience the words carried the first time. If anything, she sounded sad. “It’s nothing to be sorry about. It was an observation, that’s all. Just…tell me what’s on your mind.”
After several seconds of silently studying her, Allison concluded that Mari was being genuine, if not entirely revealing of her thoughts. Allison again found herself surprised, this time to find that, in a way, talking to Mari was proving easier than she expected. It was simply a matter of being willing to take what she said at face value rather than assigning meaning to her words, something that was only necessary when talking to someone whose words couldn’t be taken at face value. It was comforting to think that, as hostile as Mari could appear to be, she could be trusted. More than that, it inspired confidence that she was the right one to ask. Still, Allison felt the need to test the waters before diving in.
“What did you mean, ‘Lily’s new kitten?’”
For the first time, Mari didn’t immediately respond. Allison wouldn’t have guessed that she was capable of it if given ten chances, but Mari almost looked embarrassed. “That’s just how I think of you in my head. I used to, at least.” Seeing that Allison’s curiosity clearly wasn’t satisfied yet, Mari gave a dejected sigh before continuing. “I kept hearing her call somebody ‘chaton’ and, for a long time after you started, I thought she was talking to you. I figured she’d broken up with her girlfriend and moved on to you. It wasn’t until she started calling you ‘mon chou’ and I kept hearing her saying ‘chaton’ that I realized she was talking to somebody else.”
Allison repressed the urge to smile. There was a bit of relief to come with the confirmation that she was right to think that talking to Mari was indeed easy and it was just the approach that needed adjustment, but the misunderstanding was also quite amusing. “Sounds like you heard her on the phone. Even when she’s with me, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her go an hour without finding an excuse to call or text Charlotte about something.”
Mari continued to stare down at the prep table in front of her in spite of having finished her slicing. She looked as if she was focusing intently on something, though she gave no indication as to what. Given how hard her stare was in spite of the color coming to her cheeks, Allison had the distinct impression that the lack of context was intentional. She briefly considered changing the subject for the sake of being polite before remembering her newfound approach of being more straightforward about her thoughts.
“Not used to being wrong?”
Mari didn’t respond for several seconds, looking as if she was collecting herself before shaking her head and prepping the strawberries for storage. “I’m not a psychologist, so it’s not an exact science. I’m just going on observations.”
“It seems like you hit more often than you miss. That’s still impressive.”
“That just makes it easy to think you know everything. Makes the occasional reminders that you don’t hit harder.” There was a pause as Mari continued looking down and, when she continued, her voice was noticeably quieter. “It’s not the first time I’ve miscalculated. I thought Charlotte was a guy until I heard Lily call her by name.” Seeing Allison’s raised eyebrow, she added, “Because she kept calling her ‘chaton.’ I expected it to be a boyfriend. It’s what I get for assuming, I guess.”
Allison was beginning to have some misgivings about her new approach to conversation, but she did her best to stay the course. “There’s actually a story about that. I’m sure she’d tell you about it if you asked her.”
Mari shook her head without hesitation. “It’s none of my business.”
As Mari placed a label on the container of strawberries and reached for a marker, Allison decided that she’d had enough of being entirely straightforward. It could have just been that she was so unaccustomed to seeing Mari express any emotion at all that made seeing her look upset so shocking, but Allison decided that she didn’t care. She couldn’t ignore the clear signs of distress. After a moment’s contemplation, she decided to try to split the difference and subtly steer the conversation in a slightly different direction.
“I’m guessing that you’ve never met Charlotte.”
Mari stopped and turned her head slightly toward Allison, looking deep in thought. “No…come to think of it, I haven’t. What’s she like?”
Scary.
Allison just barely stopped herself from uttering the thought. Not that it wasn’t true, but it was hardly a fair description to give someone on its own, especially someone who hadn’t met her themselves. It was difficult to encompass all of the feelings that being around Charlotte invoked in a short description other than that the overall effect could be a bit intimidating. What stood out about her most was that there was a quiet intensity about her that was impossible to not notice. Allison often thought of talking to Charlotte like harnessing electricity; it was perfectly safe, but it would be foolish to ever forget to respect it. Everything about Charlotte’s presence commanded that respect and demanded obedience, though Allison was almost certain that wasn’t her intent…usually, at least. Lily was a consistent exception. Though Lily certainly had no complaints, Allison was sure that was one more thing that shouldn’t be discussed without their consent.
“She’s…difficult to describe. You’d have to meet her for yourself. What I’m getting at is that if you’ve ever seen them together, you’d never expect to see them any other way. Neither of them would ever leave the other.” Seeing Mari’s expression shift to deep thought, Allison rushed to leave the corner she’d just painted herself into before another question could come. “Why did you say I was a kitten, though?”
Mari continued digging through the produce refrigerator without looking back at Allison, giving the impression that she was feeling a bit more like herself. “That’s what ‘chaton’ means.”
“Wait, you speak French?”
Mari finally stopped and turned to Allison, knitting her brow in confusion. “You don’t?”
Allison thought for a moment before realization dawned on her and caused her to chuckle to herself. “No, that’s just Lily. When she gets excited about something, she forgets that I don’t have any idea what she’s saying.”
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
Mari turned back to the refrigerator quickly, but not quickly enough for Allison to miss seeing the corners of her mouth twitching upward. “If it makes you feel any better, she’s from Montreal so I don’t understand her half of the time, either.”
She didn’t really understand the significance of what Mari was saying, but Allison was content with the fact that she seemed to be in slightly better spirits. She was about to continue moving the conversation in a positive direction until she saw Mari stand up straight in front of the refrigerator, a cardboard box in her hands. Before Allison could ask about it, Mari placed the box near the prep area and reached for a thin wooden brush with short bristles sticking straight out of its end. Without thinking, Allison groaned at the realization of what Mari was about to do. Much to her surprise, Mari began laughing softly as she began pulling mushrooms out of the box.
“You know, I used to wonder if you were for real.”
After so much experience with it, Allison was finally beginning to grow accustomed to being confused. “What?”
“If you were really an executive chef, I mean.” Mari continued smiling as she began gently brushing the caps of mushrooms. “The story didn’t add up—the whole ‘graduated from culinary school and an executive chef at 23’ thing, I mean. Not impossible, obviously, but I was skeptical. If I wasn’t sure before, though, I would be now.”
Allison took a moment to suppress an urge to become defensive, reminding herself that if Mari intended to insult her, she wouldn’t be likely to do it halfway. “Why is that?”
“There’s no way you didn’t pay your dues at some point if you’re having that kind of a reaction to just seeing a mushroom brush.” Mari laughed again, but her smile quickly faded. “You still haven’t told me what you really wanted. Deep thinker or angry bitch?”
It took Allison’s mind a moment to catch up to what she’d heard. For a long while, she’d been so focused on the conversation that she’d forgotten why she’d started it. “Definitely the former. It’s about…well…”
“Remy?”
Allison looked up in surprise at Mari, whose back was still turned to her as she continued to brush the dirt off of mushrooms. “You know her?”
“No. Met her once, though. I see what the big deal is.” After a slightly uncomfortable silence, continued. “Yeah, I know, she’s the one you’ve got a thing for.”
“How do you know so much, anyway?”
Mari chuckled softly. “There’s no secret to it or anything. It’s really just about paying attention. You and Lily talk all the time, you know. Between the constant grocery trips and the thinly veiled references to the store manager, it wasn’t exactly hard to put it all together. Why do you think I told Lily I’d work this weekend?”
Allison was taken aback. She wouldn’t have expected Mari to be willing to do her any favors even after the last several minutes of relatively pleasant conversation, much less before. Struggling for anything appropriate to fill the silence, she defaulted to mild annoyance even as she laughed. “It’s still weird.”
Mari turned to Allison and began to laugh herself, a sound that Allison still hadn’t quite gotten used to hearing. “Yeah, I know, and I know it probably gets pretty annoying, but it saves time so bear with me. I’m guessing that you finally asked her out, she said yes because of course she did—oh, don’t look at me like that, you’re seriously the only one surprised—and now you’re worried about screwing it up because you don’t know how to be around somebody who listens more than she talks. None of the usual tricks are working, so you want someone to tell you how to act around her to make her want you. Sound about right?”
Allison stared for a moment, her lips parted in preparation to speak words that wouldn’t come. It wasn’t until she gave up on the attempt that any words occurred to her at all. “No, seriously, how are you doing that?”
Mari chuckled as she turned back to the mushrooms. “Never mind that. What’s important is that I can’t give you what you’re looking for. I’m not—oh, stop pouting, I said I can’t give you what you’re looking for, not that I can’t tell you anything. Look, the problem is that you’re asking me about her. I’m not her.” Glancing behind her and seeing Allison sadly turning her eyes to the floor, Mari sighed and continued, her tone again softening. “If you want to know what she’s thinking, then wouldn’t it make the most sense to just ask her instead?”
No amount of thinking about it brought any answers. No matter how much sense Mari was making and no matter how little sense it made to keep resisting the thought, Allison remained certain that there was something she needed and was missing. “Maybe it’s that easy for you, but you don’t have a reason to be worried about the consequences of a misunderstanding.”
Mari turned to Allison again, confused. “Consequences? What consequences?”
“What if I upset her? What if I offend her? She’s not like other people. I don’t know what she finds endearing or annoying. What if…?” Ironically, finally understanding what was troubling her somehow made it even more difficult for Allison to say the words aloud. “What if I only have one chance at this?”
Mari sighed, her expression softening along with her voice. “Okay, so it’s not that easy. Well, it’s not that hard, either. She obviously has some interest in you if you’ve gotten this far and she’s still playing along. What makes you think she doesn’t want to keep it going, too?”
Again, Allison struggled to give a voice to the thoughts that were beginning to become clear to her. “Why would she? You said it yourself—we’re different.”
Suddenly, Mari looked as though she was concentrating. “I think you’ve got more than one problem here. You want to know how to attract her, but you also don’t think that you can do it.” Looking for a reaction from Allison to confirm her suspicions, Mari waited for her to nod sadly before continuing. “As far as Remy goes, this really seems like you just need to keep doing whatever you’ve been doing. I stand by what I said before: She’s not playing along for no reason. Maybe I’m wrong, but she didn’t seem like the type to hand out comfortable lies. If she didn’t want to be bothered, I’d think you’d know.”
Allison again looked down at the floor, lost in thought. Thinking about what Mari was saying, she searched her memory for any examples of a contradiction but could come up with none. One of the more attractive things about Remy was not having to guess at whether what she was saying was true or not. She used her words so sparingly, it was difficult to imagine that she wasn’t putting her entire being into each one. Combined with the fact that she expressed similar frustration with duplicity in others, it created an effect that allowed Allison to quickly become comfortable with taking what she said at face value. Remy was polite and kind, but she wasn’t a liar. Even for the sake of sparing someone’s feelings, Allison was certain that she would only take it so far.
“Okay…so, say you’re right…”
As if sensing that Allison was relenting, Mari pressed the advantage. “I am right. It’s not hard to guess at what happened. You’re good at being attractive, but you weren’t trying when you met Remy. You fell into it naturally and, by the time you realized you wanted her, you were too busy drooling over her to remember to actually put any effort into impressing her. Oh, quit scowling at me—you should see the look on your face every time you run off ‘just to pick up a couple of things.’” Mari chuckled again at the thought, but she seemed wary of giving Allison too much time to argue. “The point is that you didn’t try to impress her. You just did it. My guess is that she’s better at seeing through fake people than you think, and the fact that you didn’t try to give her what you thought she wanted is why she likes you. If I were you, I’d keep not doing that.”
Allison took a moment to absorb what she was hearing. She tested the logic and, again, it all made perfect sense. The more she thought about it, the more she wondered why it never occurred to her before. It wouldn’t be as easy as just not worrying about it, though, which caused a new worry to take shape in her mind.
“I’m not saying that you’re wrong, but…well…it still feels a little like leaving it all up to chance.”
Mari smiled kindly. “That’s where the other half of your problem comes into play, and that’s the part that you’re going to have to do for yourself. You’re just not giving yourself enough credit. Like I said, she likes you because of what she’s seen—the real you, not the face you put on when you want someone to like you. All of those little things that make you who you are will be what she picked up on when she was deciding how she feels about you. Basically, you’re trying to convince yourself that she won’t like what she’s going to see even though she’s already seen it and decided she likes it.”
Allison sighed softly, her voice heavy with sadness. “You haven’t seen everything. Neither has she.”
“I’ve seen enough, and I like what I know.” Mari suddenly turned back to the mushrooms and began brushing them with a surprising amount of enthusiasm. “I’d be willing to bet that it’s the same for her. You should give her some credit, too. I’m sure she knows what she wants and, no matter how much you keep trying to convince yourself otherwise, it’s pretty obvious at this point that she wants you. As for the rest…well, all you can really do is deal with it as it comes—but that was going to be the case no matter what. I know it’s not easy, but if it’s working, maybe just go with it. At the very least, don’t change anything until you have a reason to.”
Allison did her best to focus on the logic of the situation. She began repeating to herself that Mari was right, it all made sense and there was no reason to not keep moving forward. She’d already decided that time was of the essence and she wouldn’t waste any more of it, but she’d somehow fallen back into the old habit of trying to talk herself out of it at the last minute. Mari’s words were harsh, but they were comforting. More than that, they’d strengthened her resolve just as it was beginning to fail. With a growing sense of gratitude, she looked up at Mari only to see that she’d again turned away. Allison smiled as she quietly watched Mari work in silence, though something about the sight gave her the nagging feeling that she was still overlooking something important.
Before she could give it much more thought, the door to the kitchen flew open and Lily came in, humming to herself and bouncing with each step. Making her way toward Allison, she took her by the arm and immediately began tugging her back in the direction of the door. “Aweille! Lunch is over, and we’ve got a lot of stops to make.”
Torn from her thoughts, Allison was quiet for a moment as she attempted to force her mind to catch up. “What kind of stops? Where are we going, anyway?”
Lily looked back at Allison, appearing to be just as confused. “I told you earlier. We’re going shopping.”
Allison replayed the conversation in her mind, but there seemed to be a blank spot where the answer should be. “Did you?”
Lily thought for a moment before her confused expression turned apologetic. “Technically…but no, not really. We have shopping to do, of course. We also need to make some appointments for Friday—hair and nails. Don’t worry, everything will be perfect…not that it wouldn’t be, anyway.”
Allison raised an eyebrow. Something about Lily’s sudden change in tone and increasingly stern expression gave the distinct impression that a lecture was coming. “I take it you’re still not done with your Charlotte impression?”
Lily pressed her lips together and fought the smile that was taking shape, but she didn’t last long before giving up on it and bursting into laughter. “Fine…I admit that she’s better at telling people what to do than I am. That being said, though, no. I’m not done yelling at you yet. One of the things we need to do to get you ready for Friday is getting you to stop trying to talk yourself out of it.”
With a glance back at Mari, Allison smiled and nodded. “Yeah…I know. You’re right.”
Her mouth open to speak, Lily slowly closed it before any words could come. “I’m not going to lie. I thought that would be harder.”
Allison’s smile widened as she continued looking at Mari’s back. “We were just talking about it, actually. I got some good advice.”
Lily’s eyes drifted to Mari, then darted back to Allison before narrowing. She stared intently, as if certain that Allison was attempting to trick her. Allison merely smiled and shrugged. Lily turned back to Mari, who was still brushing mushrooms in silence. Lily’s expression slowly shifted from suspicion to concern, but she said nothing to address it. Instead, she gently pushed Allison toward the door and, once certain that she was going ahead without her, turned back toward Mari and began cautiously walking toward her. Sensing that something was amiss, Allison stepped through the door for the sake of being polite, but her curiosity got the better of her and led her to stand nearby with the hope of making sense of what was happening. All she heard, however, was a rapid exchange of French in hushed tones. It wasn’t until the end of the brief conversation that Allison heard anything that she understood.
“Are you still sure about this?” Lily’s voice was uneasy, which was worrying on its own.
There was a long pause before Mari finally responded in a voice that sounded exhausted. “It’s none of my business.”
Hearing Lily approaching, Allison rushed around a corner and toward the exit leading to the rear parking lot. While she still had no idea what was happening, she was regretting attempting to find out. Underscoring the feeling was the fact that when Lily stepped out, she simply put on her usual smile with subtle but noticeable effort. She escorted Allison to her car while launching into a detailed explanation of their plans for the afternoon, the entire time failing to make any mention of anything that had taken place before that point. Allison was almost relieved. Whatever was going on, she was certain that it was none of her business, either.
“So…you’ve finally decided to cooperate?”
Allison was beginning to relax once they were driving and the tone of the conversation finally shifted away from her conversation with Mari. Having it drift back in that direction made Allison immediately wary, but she did her best to remain calm and neutral. “Yeah, I get it. I was being stupid.”
Lily looked pleased and, to Allison, a little relieved. “Good to hear. So I won’t need to use the triangle choke, correct?”
Allison flinched. Whether she was joking or not was debatable, but whether she was capable or not certainly wasn’t. It seemed wise to err on the side of caution and be perfectly clear. “No, no need. I get where I was going wrong. Don’t ask me how I’m supposed to just relax and coast through this whole thing just assuming that it’s going to work out somehow, but I get that trying to force it into being something it’s not is even worse. I intend to try to get this right, though. No more sitting and hoping.”
Lily sighed, looking pleased but somehow a little sad, as well. “Well, that certainly makes sense. Our dear Remy is never going to make the first move, no matter how much she wants to.”
“What makes you so sure she wants—?”
Allison was cut off by a quick glance from Lily, who was watching sternly from the corner of her eye. “You’re going to have to work on your confidence, mon chou…and quickly. You only have two days, you know. You need to be ready to impress, and you can’t do that if you keep doubting yourself.”
After a long sigh, Allison nodded. “I know, I know. I don’t think that trying to impress her is the way to go, though…not anymore, at least. No more worrying about faking it. I think I’m just going to let the facts speak for themselves.”
Lily smiled widely, all traces of concern gone from her expression. “In that case, let’s get you the best facts we can find while we decide how to flaunt the ones you already have.” Following a curious glance from Allison, she added, “You don’t have to be fake to put what’s real on display. Don’t tell me that you don’t want to show off just a little.”
“Foul temptress.”
After having put so much effort into abandoning her thoughts of somehow appealing to Remy’s desires, it was difficult for Allison to admit that she still liked the idea. She struggled to turn her attention in any other direction.
“You just want to play dress-up.”
“Oh, and you don’t?”
Allison laughed, finally admitting to herself that Lily was absolutely right. At the same time, she was also right in saying that she didn’t have to be misleading to be dazzling. She breathed a sigh of relief on making the realization, once again thankful for Lily as it became clear that she didn’t have to give up on the idea. She wanted nothing more than for any indication that Remy felt anything close to what she did, even though the thought was terrifying. Without trying to guarantee results by giving what she assumed Remy wanted, it was merely a question of whether she liked what she saw or not. After speaking with Mari about it, though, Allison’s mind was made up. Besides, Lily had a point, as well. There was no reason she couldn’t split the difference—present something real, but present it well.
Alright, then. Get ready, Remy, because here I come. All of me.